Open Design – What’s it All About?

It’s not my intention to use this blog as a promotional site for products or services, but simply to share my own experiences and projects that hopefully inspire those of you interested in 3D printing. However sometimes something comes along that really needs to be shared – in this case, a publication called ‘Open Design Now: Why Design Cannot Remain Exclusive.’ Originally released as a book, in the interests of open-source, the complete book is now available free from their website – just click here to check it out.

I’ve only read the first 2 articles so far, but they really get into the nitty gritty of what it means to be a designer in this digital age of 3D printing and Creative-Commons file sharing. If you follow this blog you’ll know that I’ve shared plenty of my own original designs through Thingiverse (check them out here), and am finding my own research interests turn towards what it really means to share a design without any financial return. Why do we do it? What’s the benefit? Who has access to your design, and what will they do with it? While this book may answer some questions, it certainly will leave you asking many more questions of yourself.

If you read any of the articles, you’re welcome to use the comment section to let me know what you think 🙂